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This entry was posted on May 17, 2012 at 5:11 pm and is filed under News.
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50 Responses to “PM Lee and DPM Teo to Singaporeans: Do not blame all foreigners for Bugis accident”

Justice For Allsaid

I am sharing with all of you the contents below of a post on http://www.sammyboy.com called “Foreign Company Deceived Ministry of Finance to Secure Financial Grade Approval’ on May 14 that was about an email that sent to Mrs Josephine Teo, Minister of State for Finance and Transport in Singapore about Follett Corporation havingdeceived the Ministry of Finance in Singapore to secure EPPU Financial Grade Approval and the subsequent Award of NLB Contract via Gebiz Tender

Josephine,

As a true blue Singaporean, I was very surprised when it was reported in a Straits Times article on April 9, 2012 entitled, ‘Government Procurement Regime Open and Fair to All: Josephine Teo’, that you had assured MP Baey Yam Keng that there was no unfair discrimination between local and foreign suppliers. [B] However, I can assure you that in the recent case of one US company that what you asserted in Parliament is just not true. It may or may not be that there are many other cases about foreign companies that we as ordinary Singaporeans just do not know because we do not have access to the relevant information to highlight unfair discrimination in such cases.

In this case, it concerns a US privately held company, namely, Follett Corporation, which is a holding company with consolidated financial statements that participated in a Gebiz Tender (Reference No: NLB Tender ref: NLB000/04/2009). Follett Corporation is not a trading company or a businesss unit with its own revenue stream but it was given a financial grade S10 approval by the Ministry of Finance’s Expenditure and Procurement Policy Unit (EPPU) (Reference No: ESRA20100902785). It is not possible for any local company that is not a business entity with its own separate revenue stream to be given any financial grade approval let alone a financial grade S10 approval by the EPPU. The EPPU strictly adheres to these requirements for all local companies and in the case of Follett Corporation, a foreign company, the EPPU initially attempted to do the same when it asked a Follett Director in an email dated October 1, 2010, if Follett Corporation was a business unit with its own revenue stream and the Follett Director replied on the same date that Follett Corporation was NOT a business unit with its own revenue stream and was advised by the EPPU that it could not be granted any financial grade approval by the EPPU. When this news was broken to fellow Follett Directors, other Follett Directors contacted the EPPU and LIED to the EPPU that Follett Corporation was a business unit with its own revenue stream and on October 4, 2010, these Follett Directors confirmed this false information in a teleconversation with the EPPU and also in an email with an enclosure on Follett Corporation’s letterhead confirming its own separate revenue stream and signed by a senior Follett Director. A hard copy of this letter was also sent to the EPPU shortly afterwards as requested by the EPPU. Follett Corporation had fooled the EPPU into providing the financial grade S10 approval that entitled Follett Corporation to advance to the next stage of the Gebiz Tender carried out by the National Library Board (NLB) and to be subsequently AWARDED the NLB Contract as one of the NLB’s handful of contractors for the multi million dollar NLB Contract for a maximum period of six years!

Josephine, could you please investigate this matter that owing to the sloppiness and the errors in the review of the financial statements consolidated or otherwise and the gullibility of the EPPU in evaluating such financial statements from foreign companies that is blatant unfair discrimination that prejudices several local companies competing in the same Gebiz Tender and in the case of Follett Corporation to rub salt into open wounds not only did the EPPU give a financial grade approval as a consequence to the false information provided to it by Follett Corporation but it also UPGRADED Follett Corporation’s financial grade approval from S8 to S10!

After being awarded the NLB Contract carried out through the Gebiz Tender, in April 2011, Follett Corporation which did not have a local presence in Singapore before the award of the NLB Contract attempted to invoice the NLB through one of it’s subsidiary companies as invoicing the NLB on Follett Corporation’s own letterhead as a holding company could have had serious adverse tax implications for Follett Corporation with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) in the US! However, the NLB did not accept these invoices and required that these invoices be reissued on the letterhead of Follett Corporation that was the party that was awarded the NLB Contract via the Gebiz Tender and Follett Corporation had no choice but to agree to do it. I sincerely hope that the NLB will do the right thing and provide all invoices, NLB endorsed delivery summaries and payment vouchers in connection with Follett corporation to the IRS in the US if requested to do so by the IRS as Follett Directors have also boasted that Follett Corporation has done business in other countries around the world too whilst ‘masquerading’ as a holding company in the US! Follett Corporation being a foreign company is paid by the NLB in US dollars and the NLB bank drafts issued in favour of Follett Corporation are posted to Follett Corporation in the US.

In the Gebiz Tender documents submitted by Follett Corporation for evaluation by the NLB, Follett Corporation claimed to be working closely with a local company, Fables Pte Ltd (Fables), that Follett corporation described as its Singapore Partner but Follett Corporation has recently advised the NLB that it has dissolved it’s association with Fables without giving any reasons. Fables introduced Follett corporation to the NLB and the NLB’s Gebiz Tender and was instrumental in Follett Corporation’s success in being awarded the NLB Contract but Follett Corporation has apparently been given the NLB’s blessing to do business with the NLB on its own as the NLB officer in charge has previously indicated on various occasions a preference for working with foreign companies which he insists speak their minds as opposed to local companies which he insists just do as they are told by the NLB! Nevertheless, Follett Corporation’s track record as evaluated by the NLB during the ongoing transition phase is described as poor.

Josephine, could you please investigate if Follett Corporation has made any financial contribution to the NLB in the form of sponsorship or otherwise and, also, if any such financial contribution had induced the NLB to continue to work with the NLB during it’s dismal performance during the ongoing transition phase. Could you also please clarify whether any such financial contribution was given to the NLB by the same Follett Director, directly or indirectly, who signed off on the Follett corporation letterhead falsely to secure the EPPU financial grade approval!

After being awarded the NLB Contract carried out through the Gebiz Tender, in April 2011, Follett Corporation incorporated Follett Singapore Pte Ltd and in blatant breach of the Jurong Town Corporation’s and Urban redevelopment authority’s office use rules and regulations is openly operating a retail bookstore and warehouse at the International Business Park in Jurong East without any change of use application to or approval by the URA in office space that is clearly designated by the JTC and the URA for office use only. However, after a year of openly doing business as a retail bookstore and a warehouse it is still apparently not subject to any enforcement action by the URA or the JTC despite the Ministry of National Development’s recent crackdown on such misuse of office space because of the attraction of cheap rent.

Josephine, I hope that you will investigate the unfair financial grade approval granted to Follett Corporation by the Ministry of Finance’s EPPU as a consequence of false information provided by Follett Corporation and take all necessary steps to create a level playing field for both local companies and foreign companies so that one day in the future your assurance given in Parliament that government procurement is transparent, open and fair and value for money for both local companies and foreign companies will have the ring of truth about it for all.

CKMPDsaid

Peggysaid

Macoy Lisaid

I am Singaporean. I am not blaming foreigners for the Bugis street “accident”. I am blaming the PAP for its pro-alien policies that allow this yellow (rich) trash to drive here putting Singaporeans’s lives at risk.

jadedsaid

bobsaid

Come to our country tell us dont cook curry.. so wad we dont cook curry?
Come to our country hijack our taxi knock down our cleaner uncle.. so wad? let you play GTA in our country?
Come to our country drive our bus knock down our student.. Go back china and drive please..
Come to our country drive ferarri at 180km/hr.. so wad? let you play need for speed in singapore ah?

Next time come to our country call us dog again.. wad you expect us to do? bark? go and die you ungrateful PRCs

sofdmcsaid

Injustice and Inequalitysaid

I believe no one (except a few 头壳坏 bad apples) is blaming “all foreigners” for the Bugis accident. The blame lies solely on the PRC Ferrari driver, Ma Chi (马驰）. Most are sympathetic towards Ms Shigemi Ito, the Japanese lady on board the cab, who is also a foreigner. It’s unfair for Teo Chee Hean to have made that statement, as if we blame for the sake of blaming.

Snoopy Sayssaid

F*CKING HELL!!! Who is blaming all foreigners??? Don’t try to create hatred here! If your f*ucking eyes are not blind yet, open big big and read carefully! We only blame that f*cking b*stard for his f*cking irresponsible acts and his f*cking guilt-less and shameless family who still think he did not do wrong!

怕怕said

alinormoussaid

You can’t make a person not racist just by making a statement. It is like saying stupid people should be smart and expect it to work.

Of course it is always the govt fault that singaporeans throw away any decency and make racist and crude statements online. They bring in fhe uncultured animals so we became uncivilized and xenophobic.

alamaksaid

DPM & PM are very quick to jump in and say they will get TP to catch speedsters ah…becoz got more revenues mah…
But why ignore the calls for more stringent criterion for the transfer of china driver licenses to sg licenses.
They should make all PRC would-be driver resit for test and practical test and until they passed, no direct transfer is allowed.
That’s the tightening we want to see…don’t evade the subject and label us xenophobia.
There’ll be more xenophobia if the govt is seen not tacking the migration issues and policies.

alinormoussaid

You can’t make a person not racist just by making a statement. It is like saying uneducated people should be smart and expect it to work.

Of course it is always the govt fault that singaporeans throw away any decency and make racist and crude statements online. They bring in fhe uncultured animals so we became uncivilized and xenophobic.

lolasaid

atuksaid

Allo Mr Prime , deputy prime3x and ministers….. wat da fug you want us to say and do to make u all happy and make SGporeans suffer…..!!!???

You want us to REPENT is it….???

The uproar by your fellow countrymen are due to repeating incidence that occur and we are not able to arrest the problem and rectify it. So when we , the COS , grumble and making so much noise we are blamed for it….!!! Wat da fug…!!!

Are we being paid in thousands and thousands of dollars per month to come out with policies for SG…??? our mistakes is only to vote for the one that we think can take care of us the COS….and what do we get….a series of breakdowns of our rail system , the CPF monies that were seen and heard but not touch , ministers who tall but no action and so on and so forth….I for one do not blame the foreigner but myself for voting and trusting our future to the UNGRATEFUL PEOPLE….that is YOU and your cabinet ministers.

JeremySongsaid

Yes, too many foreigners in Singapore makes us Singaporean feel very much uncomfortable. But felt that this incident is overblown. Yes the incident was the fault of Ma Chi, the CHINA FOREIGN TALENT and his reckless driving. And the general sentiment is that China drivers are less careful on the road than the average Singaporeans and there are calls for stricter control over driving licence for these foreigners. But the blame on the government seen here is feverishly and unreasonably overwhelming. Look at the traffic death statistics in Singapore. http://driving-in-singapore.spf.gov.sg/services/driving_in_singapore/information_traffic_statistics.htm . There is a GENERAL DECREASE in fatal and injury traffic accident in Singapore over the years. Yes we are all angry at the irresponsibility of certain drivers, and the discomfort caused by foreigners influx. But fact remains that government has tried to reduce traffic accidents and statistics showed that there is improvement, although there could be further improvement as always the case.

Angrysaid

This really hit me on the head with a single nail !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Lets not discuss about whether its a local or a foreigner. The fact is someone , like Ma Chi, chose to ignore alll the traffic rules and ended the with a tremendous horrific accident that caused lives of a normal taxi driiver and an innocent young lady lives. this person from Sichuan , flaunt his wealth and god knows whether he has had gone through the normal driving procedure as normal local do and then he decided to drive through the one of the city most congested roads at very high speed and created this tragic events.

Hello DPM and PM, shame on you to say that ; dont blame it on the foreigner. Shame on you, shame on you, shame on you , shame on you and shame on you again and again and again and again and again and again >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> I lost all the reason to support you and your party. For a national leader to utter such comments. its despicable, really.

bbsaid

DPM Teo-pl study this carefully
SPF don’t lowered the driving licence standard of Sg.
Other countries like Australia have better system. In WA only overseas visitors eg tourist are allowed to use the overseas licence. For PR only 3 months(compare to Singapore 12 months), and after 3 months they have to obtain WA driving licence.

Now not only Ministers are not capable and now even civil servants are fallen behind and they have to be good civil servants as they must be ready to serve ppl of sg irrespective who is the government of the day.

Cindysaid

You should have said something like ; “this kind of senseless driving that caused innocent lives is not to be cordoned or tolerated, be it a local or a foreigner. we will investigate and provide the public with more information”. After all, this concern public safety, right ?

Before that , please put all foreigners through the standard driving process that all locals are subjected to. Prevention is better than cure and pre-emption is better than damage control, right ?

Ivinsaid

Based solely ON THIS accident, we can (and we should) blame Ma Chi (& his family), as a FOREIGNER because of 1. His reckless driving that caused the deceased of innocent lives. 2. His family of not being sympathetic yet referred Singaporeans as having “poisonous tongues” (while not putting their shoes on Singaporeans and the victims). 3. Government emphasizing we should all live together as ONE in HARMONY together with the foreigners, while the foreigners named us as dogs, aliens and whatsoever. While most importantly of all, they (mostly BUT not all) DO NOT appreciate living here in Singapore with the income they are earning and bringing home (yet called us dogs! And criticized our Singlish.) etc. So why stay in Singapore when you hated us and this country so much? We don’t owe you anything, duh?

Stellasaid

May I beseech PM Lee and DPM Teo to listen what we have said and commented again!!! We do not blame ALL foreigners for Bugis accident! Once again, my point is : we welcomed Foreign Talents who help us and our country to GROW BUT NOT TROUBLE-MAKERS who creates problems and yet blame others for their misdeeds!!!!

Bloodsuckerssaid

I thnk firstly, everyone has misunderstood Singaporeans and our words are taken out of context by the media!!!! (sounds familiar hor, alot of moron white dogs like to use one)

The trigger point was that the newspaper media reported the incident as one sided affair… The ferrari driver crashed into the taxi, and what the SPH dogs do? They sing praises of the reckless ferrari driver, sounded as if the world or Singaore had lost an important talent!!!

There was no media report on the poor cab driver, motorcyclist or even the jap passenger…. so what is wrong of us, Singaporeans standing up to defend our rights for our poor cab driver and motorcyclist???

End up… two moronic white dogs, Teo Chow Head and Lee Sai Long scold Singaporeans saying not to keep blaming foreigners…. So isn’t our words are taken out of context???

Nine Death-Falls In Just Five Monthssaid

Why didn’t he express sadness over the death fall of an Indonesian maid Thursday, the ninth death fall in just the first five months of this year?

If the government agencies have imposed strict rules against dangerous high-rise window cleaning earlier this year after the first few death falls of the maids, some of the latter deaths could have been avoided.

Our sympathy and anguish felt over the deaths of these poor maids shows we are not irrationally anti-foreigner.

We know who we should welcome into our country, who we should not, against the current official FT (actually cheaper foreigners) open-flood-gate policy which is adversely impacting upon the lives of the locals . . . . .